How Real-Time, Nurse-Led Patient Engagement Enhances the Care Experience

Patient engagement is a comprehensive approach to connecting with hospice and home health patients and their families beyond routine visits. A home health or hospice episode begins with a Start of Care (SOC) or admission and ends with discharge or end-of-life care. These episodes vary, beginning with the standard 60-day period for home health. In hospice, an average length of stay is 92 days, but can stretch to several years, as President Carter proved, or conclude after just a few hours. Regardless of the episode’s length, it is crucial that the patient feel supported throughout.

Why Patient Engagement Matters

But how does the patient experience care during the episode of care itself? And how can agencies enhance the patient experience and quality outcomes for their patients?

Home health and hospice organizations can care plans to individual needs. Timely and consistent nurse-led support  can foster stronger patient relationships, improve quality measures, and ensure better communication throughout the episode of care.

The Impact of Timely Patient Follow-Ups on Satisfaction and Quality Outcomes

Research consistently connects a correlation between timely communication, patient satisfaction, and corresponding quality measures. For instance, this study published in the National Library of Medicine found that longer wait times led to lower patient satisfaction scores and poorer overall experiences (source).

Consistent and timely access to care ensures that patients feel supported and improved outcomes, which supports two of the four main goals of healthcare. Accordingly, CMS has strengthened its focus on the patient experience and quality care, including key quality measures in the ratings for both home health and hospice organizations. Ensuring timely patient follow-ups can lead to:

• Higher patient satisfaction scores
• Improved quality of care
• Reduced hospital readmissions
• Lower rates of live discharges and revocations
• Better communication scores
• More efficient visit utilization

Why Nurse-Led Engagement Outperforms Automated Follow-Ups

Unlike automated systems, nurse-led patient engagement provides a clinically sound, compassionate approach to post-admission check-ins and symptom management. Nurses have the expertise and training to identify issues early, address concerns in real-time, and ensure patients stay on track with their care plans.

A report from the Foundation for Nursing Excellence highlights the impact of nurse-led care coordination, stating:

“In addition to ensuring patient safety, nurse-led initiatives also focus on improving care coordination and enhancing patient satisfaction. Nurses are well-positioned to oversee the coordination of care, ensuring that all aspects of a patient’s treatment plan are properly integrated and communicated across the healthcare team.” (source)

A Real-Life Scenario: The Power of Nurse-Led Tuck-In Calls

Imagine you or a loved one has been newly admitted to hospice care. The admitting nurse has provided all the necessary information—medications, symptom management, and what to expect in the coming weeks. But as soon as they leave, reality sets in. You’re overwhelmed, anxious, and unsure of what to do next.

Now, imagine that within 24 hours, a licensed, compassionate triage nurse calls to check-in. They remind you of the key details from admission, answer your lingering questions, and reassure you that you’re supported throughout this journey.

How would that change your experience?

• You’re less likely to call 911 or visit the ER at the first sign of distress
• You’re better equipped to adhere to your care plan, improving overall outcomes
• You feel more at ease and report higher satisfaction scores

Regular nurse-led tuck-in calls and proactive engagement ensure patients remain calm, informed, and confident throughout their care episode—without adding extra workload to the already overburdened field staff.

How IntellaTriage Patient Engagement Services Elevate Patient Satisfaction

IntellaTriage specializes in real-time, nurse-led patient engagement designed to enhance the patient experience, improve quality outcomes, and reduce unnecessary hospital visits. Unlike automated follow-up solutions, IntellaTriage’s nurse-first model ensures that every patient speaks with a trained, licensed nurse—every time. Our dedicated team of nurses has the expertise and resources to deliver the compassionate care patients need without adding to the workload of an already stretched clinician workforce. IntellaTriage’s licensed nurses perform outbound calls to speak with your patients about their progress and needs, document directly in your EMR. Our customized offerings improve outcomes and uncover patient experience issues.

IntellaTriage’s after-hours nurse triage service provides an effective and timely assessment of your patients’ health problems. In fact, our team of nurses is standing by to evaluate symptoms and determine the appropriate level of care. The advice provided by IntellaTriage is HIPAA-compliant and dispensed by licensed and trained nurses. With these engagement strategies, home health agencies can reduce rehospitalizations, improve visit utilizations, and increase patient survey star ratings. Likewise, hospice agencies can improve length of stay, reduce live discharges, increase opportunities for visits during the final days of life, and improve quality scores.

Investing in a nurse-led patient engagement service means better care for patients, improved quality outcomes, and a more sustainable approach to home health and hospice operations.

Learn more about how it works on our Patient Engagement Services page. Then, contact IntellaTriage today to learn how nurse-led engagement can transform your care delivery model.